Book for 7-9 year old: Three times around the Corkscrew Tree by Jocelyn Porter- A Review

My eldest daughter is 8, so I thought this book sounded perfect for her. Bethany is ahead on her reading at school (year 3) and is a free reader (which means she has finished the “school reading” sets and is allowed to choose any book from the library).

The “back of the book” information sounded like Bethany would enjoy it:

Bethany loved the colourful illustrations on the cover and was thrilled that the main character “Katherine” has beautiful red hair like her best friend.

The writing was very well sized for Bethany to read, it is a little bigger than the books from school, so would be perfectly suitable for a slightly less advanced reader and the vocabulary used wasn’t too difficult either, not too many “tricky words”.

I was pleased that the book was split into good sized chapters, which makes it easier for the reader to put down and pick up the book later, they don’t feel that they have to read too much at one time.

When I asked Bethany about how she felt about the book, she said it was really good because it had sad bits (like when Kate wasn’t allowed to help in the kitchen after she accidentally knocked Mum over, because it wasn’t Kate’s fault, it was an accident) and exciting bits (like Kates room coming to life) and had a really easy to understand story line.

I liked the book because bethany is at the age where she’s starting to question whether magic is real (e.g. Father Christmas, the Elf on the Shelf, Fairies etc) and the story is based on a young girl who doesn’t believe and by the end it has been “proved” to be real. It could help bethany “believe” a bit longer.